


Camping Mishaps

by Khaelis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Camping, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 23:38:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11428638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khaelis/pseuds/Khaelis
Summary: The Doctor wants to take Rose camping, but things don't go exatcly as planned.





	Camping Mishaps

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is another prompt fill for the doctorroseprompts prompt theme: camping.  
> It was too hard to chose a single prompt so this story gathers a few of them, hehe.
> 
> I'll probably write a second chapter, because those prompts are pure gold.
> 
> I hope you'll like it, please let me know what you think!

* * *

 

 

"It shouldn't be far, now, " the Doctor reassured her with a half-smile that looked anything but convincing.

"Yes, you already said that three hours ago," Rose sighed, on the verge of letting her exasperation take over. "You're lost, admit it."

"No, I'm not," he rebutted – although the way he kept glancing around and taking sneak peeks at the small map he held in his hand when he thought she wasn't looking clearly proved otherwise. "This is a romantic escapade, Rose Tyler, and I do not get lost on romantic escapades."

"Well, if I had know that this _romantic escapade_ would actually be a day-long trek into a bloody pop-art forest, let me tell you I'd have picked better shoes."

"We might have made a small detour," he confessed with a sheepish shrug. "I was hoping to meet some Kelkatesh on the way, but I think it's too hot for them to go out today."

"Shame. The temperature seems to be just fine for those giant mosquitoes, though, so everything's not lost," she pointed out rather sarcastically as she scratched the growing red spot on her forearm. "So, how long before we get to that luxurious and beautiful camping site of yours, then?"

"Ten minutes?" he offered a wild guess, forcing another smile that bared his teeth in a most unnatural way, his eyebrows seemingly unable to decide if they should rise in excitement or frown in defeat.

"Good," she gave him a tongue-touched grin and hooked her arm tighter around his. "Because that's all I'm giving you. Ten minutes."

 

 

The Doctor's Adam apple bobbed and a shuddering laugh left his lips, as if he suddenly was uncertain that those few minutes would be enough to find the spot where he had set up the tent the day before. Rose tried to disguise her chuckle into a small cough, but realized she'd failed miserably when the Doctor huffed and pulled harder on her hand to lead her through the maze of lianas and trees. She knew he was lost, and it made it all the funnier to watch him march towards a destination that was most definitely not theirs with confident strides, an air of fierce resolution plastered over his face. She simply wondered what he would do when the ten minute deadline would come to its end – probably put the blame on the Tardis and her inability to land them where they needed to go, as usual.

 

She had to admit, she had fallen in love with that forest the moment she had set foot in it, so she actually didn't mind the long trek as much as she let appear. She had never seen trees so beautiful before, with their smooth, bright blue trunks, their big pink leaves, the canopy forming a fluffy umbrella inches away from the top of their heads – the Doctor even had to bow every few steps to avoid the lower branches. The soil was like a duvet of grass under their feet, the large serrated blades and their canary hue conferring an almost feathery quality on it. She would have loved to make a small bouquet with the tiny flowers that dotted the sea of yellow, but the Doctor had warned her that it might not please the spirit of the forest to have its _children torn away from its arms_. She hadn't quite grasped the meaning of that funny sentence, but she'd seen the look the Doctor had given her and understood that it wasn't a joke at all. So she had just taken a few pictures instead, with the brand new camera the Doctor had bought her when he'd finally had enough of her complaining that she never got to bring back photographs to remember all the places they visited – two weeks had been enough to fill an entire album and a whole wall section in their bedroom.

 

 

But now that she had basically photographed everything that could be photographed, that her feet were starting to hurt because of the impractical shoes she had decided to wear, that her backpack was becoming heavier on her shoulders at every step, she somehow regretted to see the beauty of that forest tainted by her steadily growing moodiness. Rose took a discreet look at her watch and concealed a grunt of annoyance when the Doctor started to hum, as if unsuccessfully trying to lighten the atmosphere. They kept walking for several more minutes through the trees, following a path that didn't look much different from all of those they'd walked on until that point. Rose's patience was thinning towards its limit, and, much like she was growing irritated by the Doctor's stubbornness despite loving him more than anything else, that beautiful forest was also starting to get on her nerves.

 

She was about to warn the Doctor that the ten minutes were almost over – hoping it might put an end to her misery – when he decided that taking a sharp turn on the right would lead them to their long awaited destination, pulling on her hand so hard that she lost her balance and stumbled over a root that was sticking out from the soil.

 

 

"Sorry, love," he apologized quickly, preventing her fall by slipping his arms around her waist and helping her straighten back on her feet. "But it's there! Right over there! I told you it wasn't far!"

"Fantastic," Rose sighed in relief, carefully treading into his own steps that that she wouldn't trip over anything again. "My feet are killing me, please tell me there's cold water around so I can relieve some of my pain "

"There's a small stream," he confirmed with a proud smile as he started to walk faster towards what must have been the edge of the forest. "Can't you hear it? The stream?"

 

 

Rose did indeed perceive the soft murmur of water just beyond the last line of trees barring their way, but she feared it would turn out to be a tiny rivulet that meandered through rocks and vegetation rather than the river she was hoping for. Well, at least they had reached the camp the Doctor had promised her, luxurious tent, campfire and all, so she couldn't exactly complain. It was already an achievement – better, a pleasant surprise – that he'd actually found the spot, she wouldn't blame him for such a trivial thing. And in that moment, just sitting down on a camping chair would be right about perfect anyway.

 

Just as they were about to cross the remaining distance that separated them from the camp Rose had been dying to see for hours, the Doctor came to an abrupt stop and Rose bumped into his back before she could do anything about it.

 

 

"Um, Rose," the Doctor started slowly, as if he was choosing his words carefully. "You like beaches, right? And... You wanted water, correct?"

"Yes..." she answered just as carefully, trying to peek over his shoulder to see what lay behind him.

"Excellent!" he cheered with a clap of his hands before he took a quick jog towards the camp – although Rose now had a feeling that they weren't at the camp site at all.

 

 

Her doubts turned out to be true when she stepped into a large area bare of any trees and, to her disappointment and renewed irritation, any tent. It was a very nice place. A long beach of thin, almost dusty sand followed the edge of a bright turquoise lake that broke on the other side over a small cliff covered in ivy. The lack of trees offered a perfect view on the burning orange sky in which two small suns were shining brightly, and the slightly higher terrain gave a magnificent view over the top of the forest they had traversed. Miles and miles of a fluffy pink entanglement of leaves from which a few bird-like creatures emerged, their eerie songs barely loud enough to cover the soft whisper of the ripples making the surface of the lake tremble. It was charmingly colourful and appreciatively quiet and peaceful. But it wasn't their camp.

 

 

"Doctor, where is the tent you promised?" she asked, trying hard not to scowl.

"Why, in my pocket, of course!" he exclaimed with a big smile, as if it made perfect sense. "The tent, and the mattress, and the logs. Oh, and the food, Rose! Lots of food in there, enough for three days at least!"

"So, that was your plan, then," she stated as matter-of-factly as possible to keep her negative emotions at bay. "I thought you'd told me, and I quote, _everything's ready, we'll just have to light the fire and enjoy._ "

 

 

Rose had never seen the Doctor's face fall so quickly before. He went from overly cheerful – a state of mind that Rose knew he adopted when he had something to hide - to positively chagrined in less than a second, and she suddenly regretted her despondency and her rather irascible behaviour. He buried his hands deep in his pocket and looked down at the tip of his shoe that was prodding repeatedly into the sand, a dejected pout distorting his sheepish smile.

 

 

"No, this wasn't my original plan," he lamented in a mumble. "That's actually plan Z-F, if you must know. Because I had thought of exactly thirty-two ways all of this could go wrong. And believe me, that one came last. I did set up a tent, I promise. It seems I just got the coordinates wrong, and I think I've landed us at the exact opposite of where the actual campsite is. It's my fault. I'm sorry."

 

 

Rose felt her heart break at the confession. And suddenly, it didn't matter that she wouldn't get her luxurious tent or her perfect campsite. Why would it matter, when she had the Doctor and his plan Z-F? That could work just as well.

 

She took a few steps to reach him and cupped his jaw in the palm of her hand, a smile shining on her face. He gave her an abashed curl of the lips and leaned into her touch, his hands coming to rest on her waist.

 

 

"I really am sorry," he apologized again with a shy shrug. "I guess I can't do perfect, not even for you."

"You make everything perfect, Doctor," she comforted him, brushing her thumb over his mouth in a heartfelt attempt to erase the grim expression from his face. "Let's set up the tent and pretend this was your plan all along, yeah?"

"Are you sure? We could just go back to the Tardis and do this some other time."

"Nope, we're doing this right here and right now," she smiled before planting a soft kiss on his lips. "Come on, Doctor, open your pockets and let's get to work."

"Alright," he grinned, seemingly relieved and even enthused to embark on another adventure. "Oh, um, I might have forgotten to take the manual with me."

"It's okay," she giggled when he scratched the back of his head with a scrunched up nose. "I'm sure the stuff of legend can figure out how to set up a tent without a manual. It's not like we do anything by the book."

"Quite right," he agreed with a wink as he started to empty his right pocket. "Let's do this, then, Rose Tyler, allons-y!"

 

 

Rose was almost tempted to sigh in discouragement when she watched the many, so many different parts that he was taking out from his transdimensional pocket – a wonder of technology she still couldn't understand how worked but had always found prodigious – and soon, a whole pile of poles and pegs and squares of a bright red material stood at her feet. But then, she saw the Doctor wiggle his eyebrows with a wide grin as he handed her the corner of a ground cloth, and she just had to give him a chuckle and a gentle punch in the shoulder.

 

 

"I deserve a nice foot massage after all of this," she warned him with a twinkle in the depth of her eyes.

"And I will deliver," he promised, quite unable to resist the call of her lips and bending down to kiss her softly.

 

* * *

 


End file.
